Breaking down Kevin Zeitler’s 2024 contract with the Detroit Lions.

When the Los Angeles Rams made Jonah Jackson the fifth highest-paid offensive guard in the NFL, the Detroit Lions quickly replaced him with former Ravens guard, Kevin Zeitler. A seasoned veteran—34 years old with 181 NFL starts—Zeitler can provide the Lions with a proven starter, while also not breaking the salary cap bank.

Zeitler’s deal was originally reported as a one-year, $6 million contract, and now that the contract has been officially filed, we can see the numbers are pretty close to the initial report.

Here are the full details of the deal, as reported by Over The Cap.

Kevin Zeitler, 1 year $6 million with $5.49 million in guarantees

2024:

• $1.21M base salary (fully guaranteed)
• $4.28M signing bonus proration (fully guaranteed)
• $510,000 per-game roster bonus
• $5.94M cap hit

Zeitler’s base salary and signing bonus are fully guaranteed but his per-game bonuses are not. However, because Zeitler played 15 of a possible 17 games last season for the Ravens, $450,000 of his per-game roster bonus is considered a “likely to be earned” bonus (LTBE), meaning that amount counts against the Lions cap in 2024. If Zeitler plays in all 17 games this season, he will get the full $510,000 bonus, and the Lions will incur a $60,000 cap adjustment in 2025 (an extra $30,00 per game). If Zeitler plays less than 15 games, the Lions would get cap credit in 2025, depending on how many fewer games he played ($30,000 for each game missed beyond the first two).

This puts Zeitler’s contract on par with the Lions' other starting guard, Graham Glasgow, who signed a new three-year deal this offseason, averaging $6.66 million per year. Glasgow’s contract average ranks 24th highest in the NFL, while Zeitler is tied for 25th at the position.